ROSS

 

                Portland is the best city to eat, shop and play because you don’t have to pay sales tax like in other states in USA. So, it’s very wonderful for shopping here. Downtown’s area is the awesome place for shopping. You can find all kind of stuff in here. They have a lot of shops for selling normal brand until luxury brand. What is your favorite shop?

 

             For me Ross is my favorite shopping place, I always go this store 2-3 times in month. Ross is the store which selling price is cheaper than normal price around 20%-60% depend on the product. Moreover, they also have clearance sale price which discount to 70% from normal price. Ross is open everyday and also have many store locator. You can save your money when shopping here. You can buy cool stuff which the same name brand carries in department and specialty store.

 

 

 

                Ross have 1,000+ stores in 33 states, the nearest store in downtown area is located at 600 SW 5th Ave. Only 5 minutes by walking form PELA, you will see the sign with blue letter at the entrance door. You can find almost everything at Ross. For me, I like to buy clothes, shoes and accessories at Ross. Because it’s cheaper than normal stores, nice design and same brand. It’s very convenient for shopper because they classify product by category and size.

              Moreover, they also have fitting room which you can try it before buy. But they limited at 8 items per one time. They also have refundable policy same as other store. If you aren’t satisfied with a product, you can return it to the store with original receipt. And you will get the refund amount same as you paid. So, I think Ross is the good store for smart shopper.

 

Food court in Pioneer Place.

 Hello? I am Oona! I think everyone knows about the Pioneer Place which is located near by PELA. On the first floor, there's a place to eat some food. The food court. Actually it's not the famous and remarkable place to remember. However, as a foreign student I think this is the easiest place to get food from PELA. The location is easy to find and there are several kinds of food you might like.

If you want to go there, then just to go to Pioneer Place. Pioneer Place is a big shopping mall beside the mall/5th avenue max station. The Blue and Red line cross this station so if you use this line, you can easy to get there. When you go down the first floor, you might see the pass way which connect the other building of pioneer place. In front of the pass way, there's a sign board attached on the ceiling, written in "Food Court". Just follow the board then you can get there.

One good thing about this place is that the place is located inside of a building. In this cold weather, it's not easy to go outside, buy food and find a place to eat. If it is raining, it gets worse. However, eating at the food court, you don't need to worry about bad weather. Everything is cozy and clean, so you just buy food and take a seat at the same place!

There's some various food in this food court. You can taste Chinese food, Italian food, Hawaiian food, Japanese food and etc. My favorite was Italian food because you can get a big piece of pizza with a very cheap price. Besides, if you go there and bring your previous receipt, you can get a piece of pizza or a brownie for free. It's Sbarro, the Italian fast food branch store.

The second good thing is the staff in the store are kind. They have enough time to receive your order. For foreign students, it's not easy to ask and understand with staff who works in the restaurant. However, the people in the food court are different. Because they are eager to make a regular customer and they are working in the big shopping mall, they should be kind to anyone even if the person is a foreigner who cannot speak English.

Therefore, I think the food court at the Pioneer Place is good place to have food for foreign students. However, after getting used to American culture, I recommend to use food carts behind the PELA. It's more fun!

Beaverton City Library

Hello, I am Oona~. I want to recommend "Beaverton City Library" as the best place for foreign students. The cozy and calm atmosphere of this library will help you study English.

the facade of Beaverton City Library

Beaverton City Library is located in downtown, Beaverton. If you take a max blue line train, you can get to Beaverton T/C station and walk there in about 15~20 minutes.



the first floor

The first floor is filled with audio books or other DVD&CDs and materials for kids.

the second floor

The second floor, which you can get to by the stairs or the elevator, is filled with many books for adults and teenagers and some magazines. There are many desks and chairs to read books or study. They also have a computer lab, so you can search something on the Internet. If you bring some electric devices, then you can get the Wifi of the library. Of course, it is free.

Actually, considering only the amount of books, the Multnomah County Central Library in downtown Portland is better. However, there are many homeless people there, and the facilities are not clean. In my opinion, the atmosphere is really important to study. Therefore, I prefer to go Beaverton City library.

I also like the appearence of this library. As you see, the roof is made of blurred glass, so the sun light come inside and the second floor is very bright without electric lights. The first floor is darker than the second one, but the ceiling is very high, it is also clean and neat. They use wooden desks and floors, so it makes me feel relaxed. This atmosphere makes you focus on your work and people calm down.

If you want to take a rest, just come out of this building. Right beside the library, there is a small park with green grass and a small fountain. The park is always decorated following the season. In Summer, there were flower plants and now, there are candy sticks and small lights.

Beaverton City Library open hours differ depending on the day. I usually go there on weekends, on Saturday the library is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. However, on Sunday they open from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Before you go, you should check the time they're open.